A Christmas Memory
by Tales from the Reaper Library
Summary: Ciel decides to look through his desk and happens upon a stack of drawings his father drew before the fire. With a melancholic heart, he remembers a time of Christmas joy, before death entered the tale and Undertaker brought the dead to life.


**Disclaimer: I won't ever own Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji)!**

_Hey there guys, technically this isn't my first story, so, it shouldn't be bad. I am, indeed, zgirl16, the writer of 'Fevered Dreams'. I will be active here, too. Anyways, this is just a little one-shot, but trust me, there is a lot more things other than this Holiday gift in store for you! Hope you guys like it, and drop a review if you have time! P.S. I imagine Undertaker and Ciel in a park-like area or somewhere like that, and, yes, I know that Undertaker says 'little one' a lot. Enjoy!_

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Ciel sighed as he looked through the mahogany desk once more, the odd item making a thumping sound as they rolled about in the drawer. The young boy was searching for something in particular, but it was rather hard as he had not cleared everything out of it, for even things that had belonged to his father that had survived the fire remained in the drawer.

He growled suddenly, but the rumbling noise ceased in his throat as his fingertips touched what felt similar to paper at the very back of the drawer. With a curios expression on his face, the now fourteen year-old Earl pulled the items free, finding that what he had touched was a stack of drawings.

The papers were yellow at this point, but Ciel could easily see who had been drawn upon these papers. What really surprised the boy was that it was in his father's hand.

Sitting back in the chair behind the desk, Ciel began to look the drawings over. Some of them were of his father and mother, and others of him with his parents, but the last few in the stack surprised him most. They had been drawn shortly before the fire that had claimed his once happy life.

But it was surprising who was in them.

Ciel as usual had some part in the drawings, but Undertaker was in them as well. Two of the last four showed them playing out in the snow together, the third showed the two decorating together, and the last showed him sleeping upon Undertaker's chest, just like any little child would.

The boy seemed to slump a little at the sight, a small, almost unnoticeable frown coming to his lips as the memory flooded back.

* * *

[Flashback]

_Little Ciel giggled as he hid behind the tree, his mirth making him unable to feel the freezing cold of the snow outside. He could hear the crunching of the snow beneath heeled boots, and the occasional odd chuckle of his adult playmate._

"_Oh~ I wonder where he could be…? Perhaps…"_

_Ciel giggled but immediately silenced himself, but he had given himself away. His playmate jumped around the tree, grinning wide as he lunged at the little boy._

"_Perhaps he is here!"_

_The boy squeaked and laughed as he jumped out of the way, causing his playmate to playfully pout and stand to his full height. He was dressed completely in black, black leather boots going up past the knee with silver buckles with straps going up the entire length. His long silver hair spilled down his back like a waterfall bathed in moonlight._

_Little Ciel stopped fleeing as he realized that his playmate had stopped chasing him. The little boy frowned as he noticed his playmate's playful pout, but the child couldn't tell whether or not it was real. Shyly he walked back to his playmate's side and gently tugged on the dark robe._

"_U-Unnytaker?"_

_The silver haired man grinned as the child pronounced his name incorrectly, and he got down into a crouch so that he was level with Ciel. "Yes, Ciel?" _

_Ciel looked down and then flung his small arms around Undertaker's neck, hugging him tight. "I-I'm sorry if I made you sad!" The man jumped slightly in surprise, but smiled and wrapped an arm around the little boy in response, realizing that his pretend pout might have been taken differently by the child._

"_Oh, it is alright, little one. See, no harm done!"_

_Undertaker pulled back and smiled at the boy and Ciel giggled in response, but gasped suddenly as the man lifted him up off the ground, spinning him round. The little boy giggled and clung to Undertaker as much as he could._

_It was snowing again, and Undertaker looked to the ground once more as he stopped spinning, grinning as he looked back to Ciel. "Say, little one, do you know what a 'snowball fight' is?"_

_Ciel grinned wide and squeaked, wrapping his small arms around Undertaker's neck once more. "Yes! I play that with Mr. Tanaka all the time, and with my daddy and Auntie An!" The silver haired man smiled and set the child down._

"_Well then, little one, go get ready!"_

_The boy nodded and darted away and Undertaker retreated to the tree from earlier. He bent down and gathered up some of the snow with his hands, ignoring as the cold numbed his hands as he wasn't wearing gloves._

_As he straightened back to his full height he felt something thud against his left thigh and he glanced to his left, but saw nothing. With a grin and a raised eyebrow that nobody could see due to his bangs, he began to circle around the tree, looking for a splotch of dark hair amongst the snow._

_He didn't see anything for a while until he felt something hit him in the back of the head, surprising him and he began to think that the boy had a scary good throw until he turned around, finding a different dark haired trouble maker standing before him._

_Vincent, Ciel's father stood before Undertaker with a playful grin. "Long time since I've done that, huh, old man?" Undertaker sighed but grinned at the same time. "Still not as old as you like to think, Vincent, but, indeed, it has been a long time."_

_The dark haired man remained still for a time but he suddenly ducked down and grabbed a fistful of snow. Undertaker growled playfully and darted to the side as Vincent threw his snowball and with surprising accuracy the mortician threw his and it made contact with its target with little trouble._

_Its target having been Vincent's face._

_Shaking with laughter Undertaker pointed to Vincent's less than happy looking face. "Eheheh! It's been so long yet you still lose at this!" The silver haired man slowly calmed and gazed at the Earl with a small smile and Vincent slowly began to retreat. "It'll be fine, Vincent, Ciel's in good hands, you should really be spending time with your wife."_

_Vincent hissed slightly, but smiled and began to retreat back towards the street that led towards the hospital where Rachel, his wife, was as her sister, Angelina, was still in the hospital because of the accident that had claimed her own husband's life._

_Undertaker watched him leave, but was hit in the small of his back with a snowball. Grinning, he turned around to see little Ciel holding a snowball in one hand. The mortician grinned mischievously and tried to dash at Ciel once more, causing the child to squeal in surprise, but the silver haired man slipped on a frozen patch of the snow, slipping and landing on his back with a dull 'thud'. _

_Ciel gasped and whipped around, while Undertaker gave a smile and groaned slightly, starting to laugh at his blunder. The little boy moved back to the man's side, a worried look in his large eyes. "A-Are you o-okay?" _

_The small boy knelt down and gazed at Undertaker as he waited for a response. The silver haired man just smiled and looked to Ciel through his bangs. "Yes, I am quite alright, little one…" Undertaker reached out and grabbed the boy, earning a squeak as he pulled the child to his chest._

_Little Ciel relaxed though and gave into Undertaker's warmth and the man smiled, slowly moving his arms away from the child and laid them into the snow. He began to move his arms and legs back and forth, creating long sweeping motions and Ciel watched him with a curious expression. "W-What are you doing…?"_

_Undertaker grinned and wrapped an arm around Ciel, lifting the small child off his chest and laying him in the snow next to him. "Just wait and see, little Ciel…" The little dark haired boy gave him a confused look but slowly and carefully copied his elder's movements, causing his adult playmate to grin. _

_Eventually Undertaker got to his feet and helped Ciel to his and lifted him up into his arms. The silver haired man chuckled and motioned for the boy to look, and Ciel giggled and smiled at the sight before them both._

_Ciel grinned at the imprints in the snow, holding onto Undertaker's neck tightly. "What are they called?" The silver haired man smiled and looked to Ciel. "They're called 'snow angels'." The child smiled and looked to Undertaker, giggling. "They're pretty! Yours is so much bigger than mine! I want to be as big as you some day!" _

_The silver haired man grinned and touched his to Ciel's. "Oh, I'm sure you'll be a magnificent man someday, little one! Such a kind soul you are!" He spun Ciel around and smiled, he looked up to the sky as more snow began to fall, finding that the clouds were darker now._

"_Looks like it's time to return to my home, little one. Seems a snow storm is coming in once more…"_

_Ciel squeaked as Undertaker spun around and started back towards the street at a brisk pace. Wrapping his arms tightly about the man's neck he closed his eyes, snuggling into his elder's warmth as he was quite cold._

_The little boy listened to the clacking of the silver haired man's heels and sighed in relief as he heard the squeaking of a door and saw the darkness of the Undertaker's home surround him. The man snickered as he heard the child sigh and set him down in the chair beside the fireplace. He set to work on starting the fire and Ciel took the time to look around, finding that a couple of boxes had been set to the side of the room._

_Ciel looked back to Undertaker and noticed that a Christmas tree stood behind him, but not a single decoration adorned it. The silver haired man gave a triumphant laugh as the fire started and he stood back to his full height, looking over to Ciel, but frowned slightly as he noticed the boy's seemingly unhappy expression._

"_What is it, little one?"_

_The child looked up at this and titled his head curiously. "Why haven't you decorated your tree yet? It'll be Christmas soon!" Undertaker chuckled at this and reached down, placing his hand on Ciel's head comfortingly. "Don't worry about it, little one. I've been rather busy as of late, so I haven't had the time, so I-" He was interrupted by Ciel grabbing onto his hand and speaking over him. "Then let me help you today!"_

_The silver haired man chuckled and smiled, wrapping his long slender fingers around Ciel's little hand. "Well, if you insist, lad, then I cannot possibly deny. After all, your birthday is coming up, so count this as an early birthday present!" Undertaker helped the small child off the chair and retrieved one of the boxes, sitting it upon the floor in front of the tree and opened it._

_Ciel grinned and carefully took one of the ornaments into his hands, gazing at it with wide eyes. _

"_It's… a-amazing…"_

_Undertaker lifted his head from looking through the box, a huge grin spreading across his face as he saw the ornament that the child was holding. It was a porcelain angel, her wings spread out wide. "That, little one, is my tree toper…" Ciel giggled and looked to him, setting it back in the box. "Let's save her for last…"_

_The mortician chuckled at the child's decision and started bringing out the ornaments, and together they decorated the tree. Undertaker strung up his gold garland high up while Ciel did the lower sections, and afterwards they both threw silver tinsel onto the tree. They then, with careful hands, began to place Undertaker's more fragile ornaments on the branches. They spent their time this way until well into the night before they finally had the tree covered into lovely shades of silver and gold, and reds and blues and purples and any other color you can think of._

_Undertaker grinned and took a step back as he swept Ciel up into his arms. "Well, little one, care to do the honors?" The silver haired man held up the angel and the child grinned and shook his head excitedly. He took the toper with careful small hands and Undertaker got a firm gentle grip around the boy's waist as he lifted him high up so that Ciel could reach._

_Ciel carefully slipped the angel onto the point of the tree and Undertaker relaxed, pulling the boy back to his chest. The dark haired child grinned wide as he took in the sight of the tree. "Now it's happy in here too! Just like you, Uncle Unny!" _

_The boy grinned and looked back to the man with a wide smile. "You're so fun to play with; won't you come to my birthday party? My birthday is going to be so much fun this year, mommy and daddy said that I could sleep with them and that mommy will read me stories! Please, Uncle Unny, won't you come…?" Undertaker nodded at this. "Of course I will, after all, I do have a sweet tooth!" Ciel grinned and looked back to the tree. "See how it makes everyone happy?"_

_The mortician chuckled and nodded. "Oh, yes, I do see, little one…" Undertaker gazed at the tree with a soft expression, but chuckled and turned his attention back to the child he was holding as he heard a little yawn. Ciel rubbed at his eyes tiredly._

"_Come now, Ciel. I believe it's time you got some sleep."_

_Little Ciel looked up and nodded, laying his head down on Undertaker's chest. The silver haired man lowered both himself and Ciel into the chair beside the fire, allowing a low soft humming rumble in his chest. The boy giggled softly and his eyes fluttered shut._

_Undertaker chuckled and wrapped his arms gently around the little child, resting his scarred cheek against the top of Ciel's head. He too closed his eyes. _

"_Merry Christmas, little one…"_

"_Merry Christmas, Uncle Unny…"_

* * *

[End Of Flashback]

"Young Master, can you hear me?"

Ciel jerked free from the memory as his butler's voice reached him. Regaining his composure, he looked to the raven haired demon emotionlessly. "Yes, I am fine, Sebastian. Now, what is it that you need?" He didn't want his butler to know exactly what had been on his mind.

Sebastian sighed and tilted his head towards the window, causing Ciel to turn his attention to it as well. The sun was close to setting now, the dark clouds occasionally showing the hues of pink and red. "It is dinner now, my Lord. It does appear as if it will snow soon. First for the Holiday season this year. Should I serve dinner here, or would you rather come to the dining hall?"

Ciel sighed and shook his head, rising from his seat. "No, I will eat in the dining hall." He looked down at the drawings once more, a feeling of melancholy coming over him as he thought of what had happened between him and his once was 'playmate'.

Walking past the desk and to his demon butler's side, he left the memory behind once more.

After all, things couldn't ever be the same again.

Undertaker gave a dull sigh as he slipped through the door of his former shop once more. The now empty building was more depressing than it ever had been when he resided in it. Even though the coffins were gone, a sad yearning emotion filled the air.

Moving through the darkness he found the box he hoped was the one that he had been looking for. He opened it silently, only to sigh as he saw what was inside, but hesitated, taking something carefully into his hands.

He held it up to the light, allowing the faint sunlight that was shining in to strike it, causing silver little flickers of light to shimmer upon the dark walls.

It was an angel with is wings spread out wide.

The silver haired man felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he traced his dark nails over the gems of the angels dress. He pulled the ornament close, feeling the memories return to him as well. The memories of the last happy Christmas he had shared with them.

How sad it was, now that laughter had left.

The tale was grinding to a halt. Ciel wouldn't ever love again, at least, no one that cared for him. Yet, Undertaker still cherished the ornament.

He just hoped that he'd be able to cherish it for another year.

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_So, what did you guys think? Check out 'zgirl16' and drop a review!_

_-Reaper Library_


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